Let’s take a look at three different ways your cloud services provider can de-stress your busy life and provide you with much needed value.

1. Free up your space.

One of the beauties of a cloud computing environment is the near elimination of physical hardware and equipment on-site at your office. When managing your own server room or Communications (Comm.) room, you are responsible for housing a variety of equipment such as servers, UPS units, networking equipment and cables, spare parts, etc. Not to mention you need the real estate for it all. And don’t forget – much of this equipment runs on a three-year refresh cycle, which means you’ll have to upgrade everything in the near future.

If that wasn’t enough to consider, with IT on-site, there are still additional resources to think about:

Power – Naturally, you’ll need to consider additional power sources and generators in the event your Comm. Room suffers an outage.

Climate control – Maintaining proper temperature is essential to ensuring your infrastructure operates properly (and can be challenging to control within your own office space).

Security – You’ll need to ensure your Comm. Room has adequate physical security measures in place to protect and monitor the infrastructure as well as keep out any unauthorized personnel.

In the cloud, you don’t have to worry about server nightmares or power and cooling requirements. Relying on a cloud provider’s infrastructure means you don’t have to maintain your own. There’s no need for a Comm. Room on-site, freeing up extra real estate for additional employees – or allowing you to commit to a smaller office space.

2. Free up your time.

The cloud affords firms many opportunities they would not otherwise realize if they were managing and maintaining their own technology infrastructure. With the burden of responsibility falling on the cloud services provider, any internal IT employees at the firm are afforded the opportunity to work on higher-value areas. For example, an employee who no longer needs to focus on system upgrades and license renewals can now focus his attention on IT budgeting or compliance concerns.

The adoption of cloud services has dramatically changed the way many hedge fund CTOs spend their time as their traditional duties have evolved to match the changing technology landscape. Having the option to reallocate technical resources to focus on other areas of the business affords firms a wealth of new opportunities as they rely on outsourced cloud providers to manage their day-to-day IT operations and duties.

3. Free up your budget (sort of).

For many hedge funds, moving to the cloud can be a cost-effective decision. The transition from traditional, upfront capital expenditures (CapEx) to recurring, operating expenses (OpEx) can, in many cases, result in reduced costs. In other cases, while firms don’t necessarily save money, they do benefit from a predictable IT budget. Let me explain.

In the past, when purchasing that costly equipment we talked about earlier, investment firms were on the hook. If you want to maintain your IT on-site, you’re responsible for all of the costs associated with that hardware. That means in order to go live, you’re responsible for purchasing all of that equipment upfront. With the cloud, we know that equipment isn’t necessary; therefore, those upfront purchases aren’t necessary either.

Rather, firms on the cloud are responsible for a predictable, monthly cost per user and can accurately predict their IT budgets as a result. Unexpected refresh cycles or equipment upgrades are no longer a concern, and firms can better manage their technology budgets moving forward.

There you have it: three ways working with a cloud services provider can de-stress your life. Can you feel the weight lifted off your shoulder yet? Check out some of our other great cloud-related resources, and keep the stress away!